Jodie Foster developing mob drama

Showtime has signed the Academy Award-winning actress to direct and executive produce Angie's Body, a new drama project in development, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The show is described as a Sopranos-like drama, but with a focus on a shrewd, lethal woman who runs a family-based crime organization. Rob Frescoe, who has written for Heroes and Jericho, wrote the script and will executive produce as well. The project is being developed by Sony Pictures Television.

Foster has worked with Showtime before, most notably as executive producer of the 1998 TV movie The Baby Dance, starring Laura Dern.

Showtime stands posed to lose two of its female-driven prjects, as Weeds and The Big C are poised to wrap within the next year. The network has really raised its profile for dramas with recent hits Dexter, Homeland and the Borgias.

Foster is scheduled to star in Elysium, the upcoming Neil Blomkamp drama that also stars Matt Damon. Experts predict that movie will do very well and that can only help booster the chances of Showtime giving this show the full marketing blitz, especially if Foster or an equally well-known actress signs on to appear as the head of the family.